Kato Cycle Club

Kato Cycle Club is a motocross facility in Mankato, Minnesota, and it carries some real history: it bills itself as Minnesota's oldest AMA-chartered club, established in 1936, with more than 70 years of riding behind it. For riders in south-central Minnesota, from Mankato up toward the Twin Cities metro, that kind of staying power means a track that has been worked and refined by generations of locals.

The club spreads across more than 80 acres, and there is more here than a single loop. Members and riders get three motocross tracks plus a full competition hill climb and wooded trails, so you can chase a fast lap, test yourself on the climb, or put around in the woods all on the same grounds. It is AMA chartered and tied into the wider amateur scene through ARMCA, and the calendar mixes club racing with marquee dates like a June hill climb and a Fourth of July double header. Club meetings run Thursday evenings at the clubhouse.

As a member-run club, Kato Cycle Club rewards getting plugged in: the people riding are the people building and maintaining the place. The Minnesota season runs spring through fall, and event days and prep move with the calendar and the weather, so check the schedule before you load up. See katocycleclub.com for the event calendar, membership details, and the hill climb and race dates, and confirm the grounds are open the day you plan to ride. A club with this much history tends to have the know-how to keep three tracks, a hill climb, and trails all in good shape, which is rare on 80 acres.